#010 - Colours And Clouds
Welcome to our interview series, where we interview emerging creatives all over the globe!
Today, we will be interviewing Colours And Clouds, a lo-fi producer known for crafting dreamy, atmospheric tracks blending cinematic textures. With over 20,000 monthly listeners on Spotify, their background was shaped by 80s synths, faith, and a DIY spirit. Colours And Clouds has always embraced creativity as a form of personal well-being and utilizes music for that sole purpose.
With that being said, we will now dive into the questions we have prepared for Colours And Clouds!
Hey, Colours And Clouds! We appreciate your interest in taking part in the FTWS interview series. How are you feeling today?
I’m feeling really good thanks. I’ve just had a week off of work, having days out with the family so I’m feeling really refreshed.
Great to hear that! Let's begin with our first question: Can you describe the steps you take to create a track? Do you begin with a melody, a rhythm, or a particular sound?
When I sit down to write a track, I rarely have an idea of what I want to create. Most of the time, I just sit down at the piano and jam until I come up with a chord progression and simple melody that hooks me. I’ll record this and then start building up the track, usually adding a pad, drums, then bass. Layering is an important part of my process, so I will then add layers of pads, atmospheric sounds and percussion, all interweaving. I like there to be a lot of movement of sounds, almost like the sounds are dancing around each other. I’ll then arrange the track, making sure there’s plenty of variation, and I’ll then decide if I need to add a top-line melody to the track or if it works as it is.
What production techniques and equipment are commonly used to achieve the signature lo-fi sound, and how have these evolved over time?
My hardware setup is very basic, with most of what I use being “in the box”. My DAW of choice is Ableton, I just love the workflow. Lo-fi is such a broad genre now with so many branches that defining the lo-fi sound is difficult. I describe my music as somewhere between sleepy lo-fi and cinematic lo-fi. I also throw in a few lo-fi ambient tracks as well. For me, lo-fi needs some degradation of sound; it needs to be imperfect and gritty, but at the same time maintain a beauty. I’m a big fan of Arturia’s products, and their instruments and effects are the main source of sound on all my tracks. I also use SketchCassette II by Aberrant DSP to degrade the sound.
How has lo-fi music's popularity on streaming platforms and study playlists influenced the genre's development and the types of artists who create it?
I, like many lo-fi artists I know, discovered lo-fi music through these study playlists. I’d been playing and trying to write music for a long time before I discovered lo-fi, but could never find my sound. I started listening to lo-fi playlists whilst working, and thought I can do that, I’m going to give it a go. I think lo-fi lends itself and appeals to musicians of all types, who come from very different musical backgrounds, which then informs and transforms the sound of lo-fi. All genres need to evolve to remain interesting, and lo-fi is a great example of this.
What has been the most difficult obstacle you have faced in your music life thus far, and how did you resolve it?
That’s a good question. I think for me, it was self-belief. I have never really seen myself as being good at anything, but I’m able to get by if I have a go. I spent years writing music but never finishing a track because I always fell out of love with what I was doing, and I didn’t think it was good enough. I overcame this by deciding to release music into the wild, no matter how I felt about the track. This forced me to finish tracks and let other people hear my work, even though I didn’t think it was good enough. This was such a breakthrough for me, and creativity started to flow like never before.
Does your production style draw inspiration from artists or genres beyond lo-fi music, and have you worked with artists from diverse backgrounds?
I grew up listening to heavy rock and new romantic music, which are quite a contrast. I’m not sure that the rock has influenced my music much but I can certainly hear the 80s style new romantic synths creeping into my sound. I am also influenced by my faith and Christian worship music. This mainly influences the posture of my heart as I'm creating music rather than the sound and style. I have worked with a few artists who have a different style and musical background to me and find that it always puts me out of my comfort zone. It’s great to be stretched as a musician and try something new in order to grow.
The demands of the music industry can be high. How do you strike a good balance between your personal well-being, creativity and performance?
Music is a hobby for me, so I don’t really see myself as part of the music industry as such, but I can feel the pressure of what the industry says we have to do to be noticed by the algorithms and be “successful”. I have found it helpful to define what success looks like for me. If I have fun creating a track and learn something new in the process, then it is a successful track, no matter what the streaming numbers say. Creativity is part of my personal well-being, and putting time aside to make music each week is a must for me.
That concludes our interview with you. Thank you so much for participating! Would you like to share any new music or plans over the next few months?
Thank you for having me. I try to keep a regular schedule of releases so I will have a few tracks hitting the streaming platforms each month for the foreseeable future. I’m particularly excited by my ambient session remixes of some of my lo-fi tracks that I release on the second or third anniversary of the original tracks' release. I’m also toying with experimenting in some different genres, so watch this space.
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